United Kingdom

LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- British scientists have urged the government to take "more restrictive measures" to tackle the novel coronavirus as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain reached 1,372 as of Sunday morning, an increase of 232 over the last 24 hours.

Fourteen more people have died in Britain after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing total deaths to 35, according to the British Department of Health and Social Care.

LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The British government on Friday postponed the local and mayoral elections in England slated for May 7 for one year, as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 798.

"We will bring forward legislation to postpone local, mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections until May next year," said a government spokesperson.

The postponement came after England polling watchdog recommended delaying the local elections to "mitigate" the impact of coronavirus.

London, Mar 12 (PTI) An international lawyers' body has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind raising concerns over the "hasty decision" of the government to transfer Justice S Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the night of February 26, a day after he had pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for allegedly giving hate speeches ahead of the communal riots in northeast Delhi.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin plummeted on Thursday amid wild volatility in cryptocurrency markets, with traders citing a sell-off across assets as fears of the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic take hold.

The biggest cryptocurrency slumped as much as 25% during morning trading before clawing back some of its losses. It was last down 22% at $6,206, heading for its biggest daily loss in five years.

London; 11 March 2020 (UMMN): British health minister Nadine Dorries has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, raising fears about the potential spread of the disease in Westminster. She is in self-isolation.

Dorries' diagnosis comes as the UK's coronavirus cases near 400, while six people have died of the virus in the country.

LONDON, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces his first rebellion over the government’s decision to allow China’s Huawei a role in building the country’s 5G phone network.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, has been caught in a stand-off between Washington and Beijing after the United States accused the company of spying to steal Western secrets.

11 March 2020; AFP: Britain unveils its first post-Brexit budget on Wednesday, with all eyes on emergency government measures to ease the economic pain from the coronavirus outbreak.

It comes the day after a minister in the health department, Nadine Dorries, tested positive for COVID-19, raising concern about whether she has spread the infection.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak will present the budget in parliament around 1230 GMT, after his predecessor Sajid Javid resigned unexpectedly last month.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s senior royals will come together on Monday for what is expected to be the last family gathering before Prince Harry and his wife Meghan set off on a new career path.

The Commonwealth Service at London’s Westminster Abbey is an annual event that this year brings together Harry and Meghan with Queen Elizabeth, his elder brother William and wife Kate, and father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, for the first time in public since the couple thrashed out an exit deal from their royal roles in January.

LONDON (Reuters) - British stocks had the biggest intraday fall since 2008 and benchmark bond yields turned negative for the first time on Monday on investor fears that the coronavirus outbreak could stall the global economy.

As the worries about the coronavirus outbreak hammered markets, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was preparing to chair an emergency meeting at which more stringent measures to tackle the outbreak will be considered.

LONDON, March 8. /TASS/: UK Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets were scrambled on Saturday on an interception mission after Russian aircraft approached British airspace, the RAF press service reported.

"RAF Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon aircraft launched today from Lossiemouth and Coningsby [air force bases]," according to a statement posted on the RAF official page on Twitter.

"This was a routine response to Russian aircraft approaching UK air space and was coordinated with several other NATO allies," the statement added.